Novel. This story fallows the life of Diego, a child who lives in a jail cell with his mom (and dad when he goes to the men’s jail) and little sister in Bolivia. His parent were framed for transporting coco paste and now are in jail but the kids are allowed to be there with them. Diego is what’s called a Taxi meaning he does jobs like taking mail to the post office or get materials for his mom for money. He is allowed to do this because he himself is not a prisoner. Anyways, one day his friend Mado tells him he could make serious money that would help his mom in just two weeks. Diego is hesitant and thinks about it but after an incident where he loses his sister momentarily and his mom has to pay a big fine he agrees to go. Diego, Mando, and three random people go with these two successful looking men and they take them deep into the Bolivian jungle where they are forced into hard labor to create coco paste. After a while Diego and Mando cpdevise a plan to get out but it doesn’t go well and Mando gets shot and killed. Diego keeps on running killing the head of the opperation and finally stumbles across a home where the family brings him in, gives him a hot mean and a place to sleep for the night. ( )

Diego lives with his Mum and little sister in a women’s prison in Bolivia (South America). His parents are both in prison after being wrongly accused of smuggling drugs. Bolivia has a large heroin problem.

After an accident in the prison where Diego forgets to look after his sister, he decided to leave with his friend who promises lots of money for little work. They are taken deep into the Amazon jungle, and are forced to process cocaine. Life becomes a nightmare.

Diego and his friend try to escape and steal some cocaine, but his friend falls from a bridge to his death. Diego is taken away. He is about to be forced to smuggle cocaine when he makes a run for it. He is tracked through the jungle and finds safety with a family.

Very easy to read. An interesting look into the drug trade, prison and street life/poverty in a different country. ( )

Diego is 12. He lives with his mother and baby sister in San Sebastian Women's Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His father is in the adjacent Men's prison. Although Diego lives in the prison, he is free to come and go to the Post Office, the market and to school. His farming parents were incorrectly blamed for a drug-related crime and unjustly imprisoned. Diego constantly dreams of going home to their hill farm whilst he is trying to earn money working as a "taxi", running errands for other prisoners.
The money Diego earns is important for the family's survival because they must pay to rent a cell and a bed. The prisoners are also responsible for providing other things for their wellbeing such as extra food.
An unfortunate incident occurs when Diego's little sister runs away when he becomes distracted when he supposed to be looking after her. After the chaos that follows, Diego's mother is fined and he is banned from working. Disillusioned and desperate, Diego is vulnerable to the suggestion by his friend, Mando, that they take a job that will earn big money, quickly.
Initially believing that they will have 2 weeks work, the boys find themselves, along with some other street kids, in a nightmare situation. They are forced into working for an illegal cocaine operation, deep in the jungle. They are starved, subjected to brutality and trapped in drug addiction, when given cocaine-laced cigarettes to keep them going.

Diego begins to suspect that they will not be paid and may be killed instead and battles both the main drug trafficker and the jungle to survive. ( )

Deborah Ellis is a superb writer for young adults, and her newest work does not disappoint. Moving her attention from the plight of children in Afghanistan, she now looks to Bolivia. Also titled 'I am a Taxi', DIEGO, RUN! tells the story of twelve year old Diego whose parents have been wrongfully jailed for drug smuggling. He and his baby sister live in the women's prison with their mother. The children of the prisoners are free to come and go. Diego uses this freedom to become a ‘taxi’ running errands and selling produce in the city for the prisoners. A position of great trust.

His friend Mando, another prison child, comes up with a get rich quick scheme, convincing Diego that they can make easier money by going off to work for two men for just two weeks. Despite his misgivings Diego follows Mando, and the two boys find themselves trapped stomping coca leaves in cocaine pits in the jungle.

This is a very quick book – easy to read and riveting. Diego is a very strong character with firm principles and a quick mind. This heart-wrenching adventure story tells a story which rings true as it looks at corruption in Bolivia, the treatment of minors, and the cocaine trade. Author Deborah Ellis has written a note at the end of the book giving a brief history of Bolivia, and facts about children and the cocaine trade. There is also a glossary. ( )

Eye-opening look at the poor of Bolivia. Diego is a "taxi"; he runs errands for money for the women who live in the prison he shares with his Mother and baby sister. (His parents were thrown in prison for 15years for smuggling cocaine under their seats in a bus- something they did not do!)He makes what money he can for his mother, goes to school, avoids the gangs and dreams of a better life. It is in his quest for this that he joins his mate Mando who has agreed to help some harsh men harvest and process cocaine in the middle of the Bolivian jungle. Here he is brutally treated - fed cocaine laced tea to make him work all night, forced to carry heavy sacks in the unbearable tropical heat and then have his legs bleached by the powerful acid the drug runners use to leach the coca juice from the leaves. A horrific life with promise of money at the end becomes a race for his life when Diego realises that he will be killed when all the cocaine is processed. This is the first of two books and once agin Ellis has taken us into the world of a child living in horrendous conditions because of the greed and stupidity of adults. {I found it helped to read the author's note at the back of the book for a potted Bolivian history of the cocoa plant and cultural background]. ( )